The ups and mostly downs – Denver over Detroit

Just in case you happened to be watching this one and you may have stepped away from the television set to fix yourself a snack when Detroit was ties with Denver 72 all in the third quarter, you probably thought something odd had happened once your microwave popcorn finished popping. The Pistons fell apart letting the Nuggets score 21 point to their 2 to finish the third quarter 93-74.

With the 101-131 loss to Denver that make the Pistons dead last in the NBA in field-goal percentage defense.

There truly is no D in Detroit.

Key Points:

Another variation of the Pistons starting lineup Saturday night when Kuester started Stuckey at point with Rip, T-Mac, Tayshaun and Greg Monroe. That make 17 different variations of the starting lineup this season, despite major injuries and I’m not counting that nasty “flu” bug that Rip had.

Rodney Stuckey with zero points and 4 assists in 23 minutes.

Bynum, who finally got to see time on the floor because of the lineup shakeup scored 8 with 10 assists.

Photo/Getty Images Editing Need4Sheed.com

When Chris Wilcox leads the team with 21 points usually that means doom.

I say this every recap, you can’t win in you can’t stop anybody. Really how do you give up 131 points?

Tayshaun Prince “It is about pride, but when you go out and play like that at the end of the game that is not pride at all. JR Smith is one of my good friends, but when a guy is on fire like that and you continue to let him shoot. One is enough, but our guys out there on the floor just continue to let him shoot. It was our fault because at the end of the third we didn’t finish that quarter off and put them in a bad position for the fourth. You go out there and play like that and let them just pretty much put the quotations around embarrassing. When are you going to step up and do something about it.”

50 points in the paint for Detroit.

13 off the bench for Ben Gordon.

Rip’s fist start since December 17th.

Detroit shot 56% from the floor in the first half and 32% in that miserable third quarter. Do you know why? Denver played defense.

Another solid game for Greg Monroe who really is turning out to be the only bright spot of this entire season. He may not put up a double-double but he’s doing the little things. He finished the game with 8 points, 6 boards, 3 steals and an assist.

Not one Detroit player was a + in the +/-box score ….every player that took the court was.

What else can I say that I haven’t already this entire season. The team is a mess, the ownership issue is holding them back and they are stuck between a rock and a hard place roster wise. Don’t get too excited about the Draft this year either, this rebuilding plan looks like it’s going to take a lot longer than we hoped for.

Would a win at home against Toronto Wednesday be asking for too much? Probably.

8 Responses to "The ups and mostly downs – Denver over Detroit"

I understand that this season can’t end quickly enough, but don’t take the excitement of the lottery away already. A couple well timed and well placed players can turn a franchise around, but a few things are IMPERATIVE to make it happen:
1. For the love of all that is good, SIGN THIS TEAM OVER KAREN!!!
2. Get rip outta here! The youth movement must go into effect.
3. If Tay wants to leave, fine let him go.
4. Maxiel, and Summers can go too. They deserve to go where they can contribute and the Pistons can’t have people stuck pouting on the bench. It’s just bad for morale.
5. One of two types of players are mandatory from either the draft, free agency, or trade; a 7ft center with a decent skill set, or a true (distributing) point guard with star qualities. I prefer the center, especially a starter who can send Monroe to the 4 and Jerebko to the three. We really can’t afford to bring in any more guards or forwards unless we manage to dump about six players.

Wow. The Pistons should not be this bad, but with this terrible coaching, the team has no hope. The players on the team are decent and they should at least be fighting for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

stuckey scores 0 cuase they start him at pg but then they have tmac bring the ball up and start the offense, then you got rip running the sg plays where the f is rodney supposed to get the ball? he was out there setting screens and running around with no apparent role, and thats not his fault that is the coaches fault. bring tmac off the bench or leave him there. but dont start 2 guards then let tmac play the point. one word for the lineup and the last quarter and a third sums it up. . . . .RIDICULOUS. i hope we put up a better fight against the bulls when i go see rodmans jersey retired, or its gonna be a long 3 hour drive home.

q has to play all the vets 20 minutes, what is he supposed to do, Rip cant be traded or bought out, he’ll be here next year, tmac joe d wants to keep him, tay has been playing well and needs to be rewarded for his last season as a piston, and Q also obviously got word from on high PLAY THE VETS for the health of the locker room.

This is Q’s last season, unless the team doesnt get sold, then it’s BACK INTO THE HOT MESS of the TEAM THAT NEVER GETS SOLD